Category: General blog

Distracted driving maims and kills innocent people. Most people think of distracted driving as texting while driving — and they’re right. Yet, as this video relates, there are so many more forms of distracted driving. Top 10 Most Dangerous Habits Texting Talking on the Cell Phone Daydreaming Watching Roadside Diversions / Rubbernecking Adjusting On Board Electronics Drowsy Driving Yelling at the Kids Focusing on Your Pets Grooming, Shaving, Putting on Make-Up Eating & Drinking Distracted Driving Links Governors Highway Safety Association: Distracted Driving Laws By State! Travelers Insurance: Distracted Driving Increases Accident Risk Drive-Safely.net: The 10 Most Dangerous Foods to Eat While Driving… Read More

The bottom line is that you are the injured party. The settlement process in a personal injury case is indeed complex. Despite the fact that your lawyer is doing all of the talking on your behalf, you are an integral part of your own settlement negotiations. If something doesn’t feel or sound right, tell your lawyer. Voice your concerns. He or she will should advise you based on a mixture of experience in the legal world and the particular facts of your case. Every case is different. The settlement that you reach is final, you can’t go back for more… Read More

Scotts Valley, California: 71-year old Alan Yelensky died earlier this week while riding his 2014 Zero All-Electric Motorcycle south on Granite Creek Road near Blair Ranch Road south of Scotts Valley.  Yelensky collided with a northbound Ford F-250 truck.  Yelensky was ejected from his motorcycle and landed about 15 feet down an embankment. This story caught my eye and my heart because here a man lived 71 years to have his life snuffed out in a nanosecond.  I represent people who have been injured on motorcycles and the families of those who have died in motorcycle crashes.  Nothing can be more devastating than… Read More

My colleague, attorney Martha Patterson, sent out a great piece describing Three Critical Things You Should Do To Make Sure Your Heirs Don’t Lose Your Money. Please take the time to read her experience-based common sense suggestions below. Ms. Patterson has successfully helped hundreds of clients establish their estate plans. Since my practice focuses on representing those who have been injured by the negligence of others, I believe it’s important to leave the estate planning advice to an expert like Ms. Patterson. Here’s what she said: If your spouse or heirs cannot quickly figure out what you own after you… Read More

Bottom line: Don’t argue with the judge. This woman turned an arraignment into a 300 day jail sentence. ELYRIA — Ebony Burks earned the dubious distinction earlier this month of drawing the longest jail sentence that Elyria Municipal Court Judge Gary Bennett has ever handed down for contempt of court. Burks’ 300-day stay in the Lorain County Jail came out of an Aug. 14 hearing during which she was being arraigned on domestic violence and assault charges in separate cases.

Two year old Jacob Bisbee was mauled to death by three pit bulls (often considered a dangerous breed) owned by his step-grandfather, Steven Hayashi. The tragedy occurred in 2010. According to Contra Costa County prosecuting attorney Mary Knox: Hayashi repeatedly ignored pleas by his wife and Jacob’s father to remove his five pit bulls from the home the extended family shared on Trailcreek Court. July 22, 2010: Hayashi was designated as the caretaker for Jacob and his four year old brother while his wife slept after a night shift. Hayashi went out to play tennis with his son, leaving Jacob and the brother unsupervised. Hayashi… Read More

Xzavier, Chandler, Debbie, and Reggie all know the horrors of texting & driving firsthand. Watch their stories in this It Can Wait Documentary. Visit http://www.itcanwait.com to take the pledge, and learn more about the dangers of texting while driving. I represent people who have been injured in car accidents — cars are the deadliest of weapons.  Distracted drivers who believe that they’re different than other drivers, that they are in control when their eyes leave the road, are delusional. It takes no more than a split second for your car to veer off its path and strike an innocent pedestrian, bicyclist, motorcyclist or other… Read More

The American Bar Association polled lawyers from all over the country and asked them to vote for their favorite. Here’s the list. Is your favorite novel on the list? Or do you have another novel that you prefer? Put your answer in the comment section below! To Kill a Mockingbird Crime and Punishment Bleak House The Trial Les Miserables Billy Budd Presumed Innocent The Scarlet Letter The Bonfire of the Vanities An American Tragedy The Paper Chase Bartleby the Scrivener Native Son The Stranger A Tale of Two Cities A Time to Kill The Caine Mutiny Their Eyes Were Watching God QB… Read More

This has nothing to do with being a lawyer and everything to do with being a human being. I saw this on www.tumblr.com and realized that this is a concept worthy of going viral. If you go into a Starbucks or Peets or Coffee Bean or any coffee house, order a coffee for yourself and order a “suspended coffee.” You’ll pay for two coffees but will walk out with one. A homeless person, on a cold winter day, will walk in and ask the barista if they have a suspended coffee and, lo and behold, the homeless person will walk out with a hot… Read More

Folks, I don’t usually reprint other articles on my blog.  However, this one along with the inciting video is worth the read and watch! Bottom Line: Judges, as well as attorneys and litigants, need to be held responsible for their actions. From the ABA Journal: An admittedly intemperate family court judge has been suspended without pay for the remaining years of his term by the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. In one angry rant from the bench that has been viewed on YouTube more than 200,000 times, Putnam County Circuit Court Family Law Judge William M. Watkins III repeatedly told a pastor appearing before… Read More